Where Yesterday Walks With Me

Below is the poem entitled Where Yesterday Walks With Me which was written by poet
Carrie
Richards. Please feel free to comment on this poem. However, please remember, PoetrySoup is a place of encouragement and growth.

Where Yesterday Walks With Me

"My yesterdays walk with me.
They keep step,
They are gray faces that peer over my shoulder."
Heavy on my mind, I search the laden book of names
And heavy was the lot, of those who tilled the loam
Color of the prairie earth, would change from rust to gold
As Kansas dust, would furrow brows
and flourish, row, by row
I feel within my heart, sharp splinters from the plow
The weight of shoulders, tiring
From lifting me
Long before my hour came
Oh, for the power of these words
To learn the names, that held the brush
That paints for me
This tree of life
Bound in leather, bound in love, a family's footsteps, read
I feel the trace, in pages spread
Names inscribed, of birth and death
Of children lost, of hearts that bled
I feel the sense of who I am
Between the threads
Frayed and thin, within these bindings
Yet holding firm
Confirming what’s been said
By generational latitudes
Linking me to names I never knew
"My yesterdays walk with me.
They keep step,
They are gray faces that peer over my shoulder."
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(Quoted by William Golding NY Times)
For Frank's Contest:

I just wandered in here and have no idea where you placed in the contest, but it surely deserves the top spot, without even seeing the other entries. So lovely, Carrie. What talent you have and you always share from the heart. Hugs, Cyndi